Nakai, Kanagawa

Nakai

中井町
Nakai 中井町
Town
	Nakai Town Hall
	Platycodon grandiflorus
- Bird	Egret
Phone number	0465-81-1111
Address	56 Asahikubo, Naki-machi, Ashigarakami-gun, Kanagawa-ken 259-0153
Website	Official website

Nakai (中井町, Nakai-machi) is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 May 2021^[update], the town had an estimated population of 9,155 and a population density of 460 persons per km².^[1] The total area of the town is 20.02 square kilometres (7.73 sq mi).

Geography

Nakai is located in the southwestern part of Kanagawa prefecture, at the eastern end of Ashigarakami district. One-third of the town area in the northwestern part of the Oiso Hills is forest, all of which is privately owned, with agricultural land and the town located along the river between the hills. The Nakamura River runs through the town in the west and the Kuzugawa River runs through the town in the east. Due to the landslide caused by the 1923

Great Kanto Earthquake, the river in the north was blocked and Lake Shinsei. In the southwestern part of the town are hills of about 200 to 300 meters, and the slopes are dotted with mandarin orange

fields.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture

Hiratsuka

Odawara

Hadano
Ninomiya
Ōi

Climate

Nakai has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nakai is 13.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2144 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.9 °C.^[2]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,^[3] the population of Nakai peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly since then.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1920	5,321	—
1930	5,258	−1.2%
1940	5,360	+1.9%
1950	6,361	+18.7%
1960	5,808	−8.7%
1970	6,028	+3.8%
1980	8,626	+43.1%
1990	10,054	+16.6%
2000	10,222	+1.7%
2010	10,010	−2.1%
2020	9,300	−7.1%

History

During the Edo period, the area around present-day Nakai was part of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province. After the Meiji Restoration, it became part of Ashigarakami District in Kanagawa Prefecture. Nakai village was formed on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. It merged with neighboring Iguchi village on April 1, 1908. The village was elevated to town status on December 1, 1958.